Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Energy
Conduction Band
• • 3p2
Forbidden Energy Gap • • 3s2
Valence Band
The collection of very closely spaced energy levels is called an energy band.
(v) r = Ob:
The energy gap disappears completely. 8N levels are distributed
continuously. We can only say that 4N levels are filled and 4N levels are
empty.
(v) r = Oa:
The band of 4N filled energy levels is separated from the band of 4N unfilled
energy levels by an energy gap called forbidden gap or energy gap or
band gap.
The lower completely filled band (with valence electrons) is called the
valence band and the upper unfilled band is called the conduction band.
Note:
1. The exact energy band picture depends on the relative orientation of
atoms in a crystal.
2. If the bands in a solid are completely filled, the electrons are not permitted
to move about, because there are no vacant energy levels available.
Metals:
The first possible energy band diagram
shows that the conduction band is only
partially filled with electrons. • • • • • •
Partially filled
With a little extra energy the electrons Conduction Band
can easily reach the empty energy
levels above the filled ones and the
conduction is possible. Conduction Band
Eg
- Since Eg is small, therefore, the fraction
The fraction is pαe kB T
is sizeable for semiconductors.
As an electron leaves the valence band, it leaves some energy level in band
as unfilled.
Such unfilled regions are termed as ‘holes’ in the valence band. They are
mathematically taken as positive charge carriers.
Any movement of this region is referred to a positive hole moving from one
position to another.
Insulators:
Electrons, however heated, can not Conduction Band
practically jump to conduction band
from valence band due to a large
energy gap. Therefore, conduction is Forbidden Energy Gap ≈6 eV
not possible in insulators.
Eg-Diamond = 7 eV
•Valence
• • • •Band
•
Electrons and Holes:
On receiving an additional energy, one of the electrons from a covalent band
breaks and is free to move in the crystal lattice.
While coming out of the covalent bond, it leaves behind a vacancy named
‘hole’.
An electron from the neighbouring atom can break away and can come to the
place of the missing electron (or hole) completing the covalent bond and
creating a hole at another place.
The holes move randomly in a crystal lattice.
The completion of a bond may not be necessarily due to an electron from a
bond of a neighbouring atom. The bond may be completed by a conduction
band electron. i.e., free electron and this is referred to as ‘electron – hole
recombination’.
Intrinsic or Pure Semiconductor:
Valence electrons
Covalent Bond
Ge Ge Ge Ge
Broken Covalent Bond
Free electron ( - )
Ge Ge Ge Ge Hole ( + )
Ge Ge Ge Ge C.B
+
Eg 0.74 eV
Ge Ge Ge Ge V.B
+ +
Heat Energy
Intrinsic Semiconductor is a pure semiconductor.
The energy gap in Si is 1.1 eV and in Ge is 0.74 eV.
Si: 1s2, 2s2, 2p6,3s2, 3p2. (Atomic No. is 14)
Ge: 1s2, 2s2, 2p6,3s2, 3p6, 3d10, 4s2, 4p2. (Atomic No. is 32)
In intrinsic semiconductor, the number of thermally generated electrons
always equals the number of holes.
So, if ni and pi are the concentration of electrons and holes respectively, then
n i = p i.
The quantity ni or pi is referred to as the ‘intrinsic carrier concentration’.
Doping a Semiconductor:
Doping is the process of deliberate addition of a very small amount of
impurity into an intrinsic semiconductor.
The impurity atoms are called ‘dopants’.
The semiconductor containing impurity is known as ‘impure or extrinsic
semiconductor’.
Methods of doping:
i) Heating the crystal in the presence of dopant atoms.
ii) Adding impurity atoms in the molten state of semiconductor.
iii) Bombarding semiconductor by ions of impurity atoms.
Extrinsic or Impure Semiconductor:
N - Type Semiconductors:
Ge Ge Ge
C.B
- 0.045 eV
Eg = 0.74 eV
Ge As Ge
+ V.B
Ge Ge Ge Donor level
+
Ge Ge Ge
C.B
Ge In Ge
Eg = 0.74 eV
0.05 eV
+
V.B
Ge Ge Ge Acceptor level
+
Ie = neeAve Ih = nheAvh
So, I = neeAve + nheAvh
If the applied electric field is small, I
then semiconductor obeys Ohm’s law.
V
= neeAve + nheAvh E
R E V
= eA (neve + nhvh) = e (neve + nhvh) since E =
ρ l
VA Mobility (μ) is defined as the drift
Or = eA (neve + nhvh) velocity per unit electric field.
ρl ρl
since R = 1
A = e (neμe + nhμh)
ρ
Note:
Or σ = e (neμe + nhμh)
1. The electron mobility is higher than the hole mobility.
2. The resistivity / conductivity depends not only on the
electron and hole densities but also on their mobilities.
3. The mobility depends relatively weakly on temperature. End of S & SC - I